Roll with it baby.

[Blothulfur]

Roll with it baby.

I know in combat you've got to roll but I don't like it. Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh.

Don't know if it's only me but for some reason all the rolling around on the floor in the witcher 2 feels kind of cheap and not fitting for Geralt, I picture the witcher doing more of the acrobatic moves seen in the first game such as somersaults and pirouettes as well as a lot more parrying and ripostes. I know and use the riposte skill frequently as I usually pursue the swords path with a little alchemy but to survive on the higher difficulties it just seems like you've got to spend a lot of time in the mud rolling around like an elephant.

Ah maybe it's just me being a petty bitch, but i'd be interested to hear if anybody else feels the same or thinks i'm spouting verbal diarrhea. Toodles.

 

[username_3236740]

Just wear armor with vigor regeneration and you can just block most attacks

 

[Blothulfur]

Didn't think about that badger cheers, i'd still like dodging to be a little different though.

 

[Jackinthegreen.152]

Just wear armor with vigor regeneration and you can just block most attacks

Not when you're absolutely surrounded by 5-6 nasties... then you only can save yourself by rolling or running away...

I do feel cheap, Blothufur, but mostly when Im running away, gaining some respite... But the enemies are so relentless, almost too punishing at times. I doubt the real Geralt (from the novels) would ve survived...

 

[Garrison72]

I felt the same way ever since I first saw a lengthy combat video. Rolling seemed unwitcherly and there was much debate about it on the previous site. Problem is, when you dodge in this game you need to cover a lot of ground, much more than you do in TW1. A side step would look cooler, but how is Geralt going to side step 10-15 feet? Furthermore, the enemies tend to crowd and attack all at once. No amount of side stepping will be effective against this. The only other solution I see is to have enemies dallying about while each one takes turns attacking you. This is the more common approach seen in games; I find it a bit contrived. There is a fairly high degree of realism built into the combat system (rolling aside) and I applaud that. Running around and planting traps, throwing bombs, etc, should not be looked on as cheap. That's exactly what Geralt would be doing in such an instance. I am reminded of the first sword battle in Blood of Elves where Geralt encounters several enemies. He begins by running and circling them, closing in for the kill like a tiger might do. He doesn't go in Conan style.

I guess I'd like there to be alternative ways of dodging and it'd be great if they could implement something like that in the future. I still greatly enjoy the combat when its not bugging out, and I personally try to build a character that has hi regen on vigor, all the parry abilities, daggers and bombs and strong Aard. Aard buys you time as it stuns and knocks over enemies, so you can then single out opponents. This way I spend less time rolling and more time blocking and attacking.

In the end, I find this combat system to be vastly superior to most fantasy action rpg's I've played.

And one other thing. The game is very specific on when you can attack and I wonder how many gamers realize you can counter with a fast hit while the opponent is rasing his arm to strike. You don't always have to block and then strike. Maybe its obvious to most but I'm just mentioning it.

 

[Babli.480]

I agree. I want pirouettes back. Pirouettes are very important in witchers training even in books.

 

[eskiMoe]

I agree. I want pirouettes back. Pirouettes are very important in witchers training even in books.

Yup, but with the current combat system it's not gonna happen..

 

[Blothulfur]

Good tips i'll try some of them I usually leave signs alone because I found Quen a bit too powerful, to be honest I miss the old group style from the first witcher which might be biasing my enjoyment somewhat. At the moment i'm having a rollicking time smacking folk around in Severance: Blade of Darkness and i've got to say I prefer that combat system but it's mainly centred on single combat mano a mano the way John Wayne would have done it so not really appropriate when taking on a nest of Nekkers or Rotfiends.

And now I can't get Jack in the Green out of my head, going to have to load up songs from the wood.

 

[Garrison72]

Whirl = group style now. And Quen is false security. I use it maybe 20% of time, no more. If you want to run and spam damage, Ignii is the sign to use. If you want to separate foes, Aard and Yyrden. I haven't used Axii much yet. Bombs would be the most overpowered weapon in the game, but the bomb throwing bug makes them a risky investment. I prefer setting traps that don't explode and darting from foe to foe, running and throwing daggers when I have too.

 

[kraidy]

Never mind the rolling, the jumping from ten feet away doing a twirl bugged me more.

Anyways I think Geralt should dodge instead of rolling, include dodging

 

[phamvan94]

Rolling did feel a bit odd in the game. Maybe they could add a dodge move where Geralt dodges an attack but stays in place ? Thats how I see a pirouette working. But then a pirouette is very similar to a counter so maybe that could be an upgrade or a skill in the Sword tree. I dont know how it would work against groups of enemies though.

 

[Blothulfur]

I get whirl early unless I find one of those big Espada swords that does area damage but its not really the group style is it, with different moves and such. Think i'll stick some points in upgrading aard though, always use daggers as those things are beastly though I often forget about bombs.

To be honest i've got to up my game if i'm going to do insane at some point.

 

[Garrison72]

I was hoping for a proper counter move built into the base system, maybe something like the focus attack in SF4, but we don't get riposte until later in the game.

I'll never try insane until the lag issues are fixed.

 

[Blothulfur]

And you can't use riposte on Letho, then again as a master swordsman he's probably wise to it.

 

[Aaden]

Never mind the rolling, the jumping from ten feet away doing a twirl bugged me more.

Anyways I think Geralt should dodge instead of rolling, include dodging

Nice idea, something like: tap -> dodge, double-tap -> roll. But that requires quite a lot of work on the combat system and probably is add-on-, if not sequel-stuff. I guess it's too major for a regular patch - especially as long as they have lots of work to do with bugfixing and the xbox360-version.

 

[Blothulfur]

Would dodging as a passive ability work, perhaps as a swordsman or witcher talent?

 

[siklara]

Reading through this thread made me feel bad about myself. During my first walkthrough I was quite content with rolling and Quen-spamming. When I started to see rolling as an alternative to running, I realized that I probably shouldn't play this as a Zelda game and began using other methods. In the beginning I experimented a lot with bombs and whatnot, but later always returned to Quen and rolling. My only excuse is that since Geralt's the only one in the game who can roll, I thought I should use it a lot to feel special.
I also enjoy performing counter attacks and group finishers.

 

[Garrison72]

the way I would implement riposte is to build it into the system from the start and upgrade it from there. Imo, riposte should not only deliver greater damege, it should stagger or really stun the enemy, buying us time to attack others.

 

[Blothulfur]

Agreed Slim the massive damage felt a touch excessive, i'd prefer a moderate amount and a stun or debilitating effect. I'd also start off with a weak version of whirl to represent the group style we've forgotten since the first game and all the basic witcher skills as already learned if it's not too unbalancing to gameplay to represent all the training we underwent in the first game (though perhaps this could be limited to savegame imports only as an added bonus).

 

[Garrison72]

Flash is working on a combat re-balance mod I believe. I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

Edit-I think the whole problem with the combat system is that it doesn't sync with player reflexes due to lag. And maybe vigor drain on block should be less. Just speculation.